It turns out Astorga is a big chocolate town. Historically the cacao beans arrived in ports in Galicia and were transported over the mountains by people from this area and they decided to just do the processing in Astorga rather than sending the raw beans to Madrid. We went to the Chocolate Museum this morning. It was a small pleasant place in a beautiful old building. We saw a video of one guy going through the whole process of roasting the beans, liquifying them with a roller and adding sugar, and molding them into chocolate squares. Then we saw the whole process again with the machines they used in the 19th century to do the same thing. Now there are, of course, much more automated machines. Astorga used to have over 20 chocolate makers, now they have five. Local chocolate is sold all over town. We got some at the chocolate museum.
Beautiful Astorga-so many memories. We stayed at Hotel Gaudi too. I think on the 3rd floor. Astorga is where I rested for “tres Dias” per the Doc at the clinic there because of my knee. On the second day, Barbara took a cab back to do the walk we missed because of my knee. Wonderful and patient Barbara! I stayed in the hotel icing the knee and watching “Once upon a time in the West” (in Spanish) in that sweet hotel. The sweet young fellow at the registration desk kept going to get fresh ice for my knee. Such wonderful people. Love Astorga. The night before we got back on the trail, I was able to go out and see the chocolate spots and Barbara showed me the Plaza Mejor. Did get to see the Bishop’s Palace too. So glad your time there is full and you are mostly solo travelers getting to talk with all the great people.
Have they been talking about Ukraine?
Jealous of the stork sightings. We saw nests, but no storks in late summer/fall. Sending lots of love! Buen Camino! H ????❤️
Holly! I was thinking about you staying here in Astorga for three days. I didn’t remember you were in Hotel Gaudí! So neat. Did you get a room with a view of the bishop’s palace? We decided to save the money and got a room in back. That must have been hard being stuck in your room for so long, nursing that knee. I remember you saying that Barbara took a taxi back and walked what you had missed. We walked from Hospital de Órbigo to Astorga. 11.1 miles. A long walking day for me. It’s a beautiful walk but I sure was glad to get to our hotel. There’s quite a steep uphill right at the end. Our hospitalera in Villar de Mazarife mentioned Ukraine because we were all sitting in a big common room and the TV was on. She said how sad it was and we all agreed. Que triste. Other than that we haven’t heard much. But the TVs in the bars show news about it constantly. I remember walking the Camino in the fall and seeing the stork nests and wishing we could see the storks.